* * *

Even rereading it, the number was absurd.

–44?

‘What was it at the start, then?’

Raizen considered me slightly useful now, which had softened him a bit.

But if it was –44 now…

‘I don’t even want to imagine what it was before.’

“Why?”

Raizen’s casual question reignited my frustration.

He didn’t know anything, yet that indifferent tone managed to strike a nerve.

‘Why? WHY?’

Because your affinity level for me is –44!

And I’m dying to know why it had to be 44.

It’s like “死死” (death-death).

For your information, I’m from Korea, where the number four sounds like the word for death and is considered unlucky.

The words tumbled through my mind but stayed locked behind my teeth.

Instead, I forced a smile.

“No reason! I just love holding your hand, Hyung!”

Like hell I do.

Being with someone who dislikes me this much is downright nerve-wracking.

It made me wonder if my head was screwed on right for putting up with this for so long.

‘How low does an affinity score have to go before it triggers actual intent to kill?’

Instead of hoping the score would go up, I was more worried about how much further it could drop.

‘Well, I’ve always known Raizen doesn’t like people.’

It’s just the ominousness of the number 44 that gets me.

The negative part?

Barely fazes me.

“You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine!”

Really.

Raizen seemed doubtful but didn’t press further.

Probably because he didn’t care enough about me to be curious.

‘Haven’t I held his hand long enough?’

“Hyung! I think we’re good now!”

I let go of his hand first.

For a brief moment, his crimson eyes seemed startled, but I ignored it.

I must’ve imagined it.

‘Why would a guy with –44 affinity do something that surprises me?’

“Well then, see you tomorrow! Bye~”

With a cheerful goodbye, I left Raizen’s room.

As I returned to my own, Mila stepped out from the neighboring room, as if she’d been waiting.

“Young Master, did you have a good time with Lord Raizen?”

Her eyes were slightly red, and her voice wavered faintly.

“Mila… your eyes are red.”

“Oh, really? I must’ve dozed off for a bit…”

She wiped her eyes hastily, lying through her teeth, then opened my door for me.

As I stepped inside, I heard her murmur quietly behind me.

“It’s such a relief you two are getting closer.”

“…”

Letting her think that was probably for the best—for everyone’s sake.

Well, not mine.

I thought Mila had been waiting to ask about my time with Raizen, but instead, she brought me a snack after I sat down: a plate of chocolate cookies and a glass of milk.

“Rest well, Young Master.”

With that, she left.

Feeling a bit dazed, I stared at the closed door.

Honestly… deep down, I’d thought of Mila as both my personal maid and my watcher.

No matter how kind she acted, she was a member of the duke’s household, and I was an outsider—a foster child they’d taken in but who might not remain here once I came of age.

I’d assumed she’d waited to question me about Raizen, which would’ve made sense.

‘It’s only natural. They’re feeding and housing an unrelated kid like me out of goodwill.’

The way the duke’s family treated me wasn’t much different from how they treated Raizen.

If anything, Raizen sometimes seemed more difficult for them to handle than I was.

Still, Raizen’s position as the sole heir wasn’t diminished in the slightest.

That only meant the duke and duchess were making a genuine effort to include me.

‘Give and take.’

You give something, you get something in return.

That’s the way the world works, even between parents and children.

“Do you have any idea how hard I worked to raise you?! And you can’t even do this one thing for me?!”

An echo from the past rang in my ears, making them sting.

Pressing my hand against my right ear, I took a bite of the chocolate cookie Mila had brought.

‘…Sweet.’

I don’t particularly like sweet things, but as I ate the cookie, I felt a little of the heaviness in my heart lighten.

“This place is really strange.”

Still, now wasn’t the time to get distracted by things like this.

While Mila had gone to fetch some snacks, I opened my secret notebook, which I had brought out earlier.

I picked up the fountain pen—one I could never have afforded back in Korea—and began jotting things down.

[Imperial Year 302, October 28th, Registration in the Raizen Affinity List. Affinity level: … -44.]

My hand trembled as I wrote.

Forty-four?

Forty-four! What kind of sick curse was this?

“Sigh…”

Even recording a single line drained my energy.

I glared at the number -44—no, 44—and flipped to the earlier pages of the notebook.

“I think I organized the information about the affinity system somewhere here…”

This affinity system wasn’t a feature in the novel From transmigration to Hero.

However, it seemed that those annoying ancient gods had invented it as some sort of survival mechanism for me, knowing I had to endure Raizen.

“If they were going to invent something, couldn’t they have just copied from other novels or games?”

Why bother creating something new?

They could have just ripped it from elsewhere.

What kind of logic led to an affinity system where I had to manually register someone as a target to see their affinity level?

Technically, I could access a help menu by clicking the question mark icon in the upper right corner of the affinity list window.

But right now, I didn’t even want to look at it.

“Ah, here it is.”

[1. To view an affinity level, I must manually register the target (???? Why did they design it like this?)
2. For a specific individual (probably Raizen):
2-1. Base affinity level towards humanity: -66
2-2. Affinity -144: Annoyance (Would prefer not to see them)
2-3. Affinity -166: Disregard (Doesn’t want to share the same space)
2-4. Affinity -244: First stage of hostility (Should I kill them?)
2-5. Affinity -444: Second stage of hostility (Will kill them if given the chance)
2-6. Affinity -666: Third stage of hostility (Must kill them)]

→ Isn’t this just an affinity system despair edition?

[3. A warning message is sent once the first stage of hostility is reached (No need to check the affinity list to notice).
4. Second stage of hostility – Warning upon approaching them.
5. Third stage of hostility – Warning triggered if the individual even thinks of me.]

The notes also included details about the “hopeful” aspects of the affinity system, but I didn’t see the point in reading that now.

“Wow, this is brutal…”

The sheer number of 44s and 66s was overwhelming.

It felt deliberate, as if those ancient gods had intentionally set it up like this.

After all, the number 4 in Korea is associated with death, and 666 is often called the devil’s number in the West.

It felt like they were actively cursing me.

“If they were Korean gods, they wouldn’t even get offerings for ancestor rites. Useless jerks.”

My frustration toward the ancient gods only grew stronger.

After a deep breath to calm myself, I meticulously re-read the notes from the beginning.

[Base affinity level towards humanity: -66.]

I underlined the sentence repeatedly.

“Then, was my base level also around -66? Or maybe even lower?”

It was at that moment—

[Want to know something funny? Your starting affinity was -144. Hahaha.]

The message window that popped up left me speechless.

“Ha… this bastard…”

“-144?”

I wondered if I was misremembering, so I glanced down at the notebook to confirm.

[2-2. Affinity -144: Annoyance (Would prefer not to see them)]

I gripped the fountain pen tightly.

“Would prefer not to see them…”

So that’s why his gaze and expression always turned so cold whenever he saw me.

“I won’t let this slide…”

My hand trembled as I clenched the pen.

[Calm down, haha.]

This ancient god—was it trying to soothe me or mock me?

Probably the latter. I quietly checked my surroundings, just in case, and whispered under my breath.

“Have some dignity. You’ve been acting ridiculous lately.”

[Nope, not ridiculous! Totally majestic! Isn’t it just hilarious how mad I’m making you? haha]

The message that appeared made my blood boil. Were these ancient gods actually internet trolls in disguise?

“So that’s why the affinity system was designed this way…”

[Hahahahahahahahahahaha]

That laughter confirmed it. I took a deep breath.

“Calm down, calm down.”

In the end, I was the one who needed their help.

Clenching and unclenching my fists, I tried to steady myself when another message appeared.

[Oh, sorry. That wasn’t me typing just now. Another one of us hopped in while I was away…]

Come to think of it, the tone did seem a little different from Noah’s usual style.

But still…

“Can’t they just change their tone whenever they want?”

Suspicion toward Noah started to creep in, but I didn’t let it show.

If I upset him, I might end up with another one of my organs bursting.

* * *